We spoke and Canon listened! No more need to compromise with inferior workarounds, this firmware update makes the 5dmkii perform like a video camera that also takes ridiculously awesome stills. Does this added firmware, with the implication of more to come down the road (24p anyone?), effectively trump the release of Red’s Scarlet? With the 5dmkii’s 1080p and a full frame 24mm x 36mm sensor, all Scarlet has on the it is 3k image capture, 24p, over and under-cranking… ok maybe that comment is more provocative than plausible. But with the tag line An epic begins with M I do believe Canon has flipped the flame switch to on.

For my new freelance business (have I mentioned I went freelance?) the 5dmkii could totally be the defacto webisode camera of choice. Knowing that one should always produce with broadcast hd standards in mind, 30p is a great source frame rate for video destined for the web and can be easily dropped into a 29.97 time line and printed to HDCAM SR, IMX, DigiBeta or what have you. All that with a little bit of ye olde ProRes transcode and Color grading, of course.

LATimes.com, WashingtonPost.com, NYTimes.com; take a page out of the Tyler Ginter combat photographer’s handbook and put these puppies in the field. The 5dmkii very well could become the video journalist’s weapon of choice. Great stills, great video, and with a little bit of help solid sound. Check out Tyler’s demo of the 5dmkii combined with a Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 wireless lavalier mic: